Railway journal box seal



M y'26,1959 as. ROGERS 2,888,279,

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX SEAL Filed Aug. 25. 1955' W INVENTOIL M5 Geo/ye 6f2ger5, Q Q 7 1 BY United States Patent 7 RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX SEAL GeorgeStanley Rogers, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as- "signor to Super Oil SealMfg. (10., Limited, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a corporation of CanadaApplication August 23, 1955, Serial No. 530,057

1 Claim. (CL 286-5) i The present invention relates generallyto an im-2,888,279 Patented May 26 1958 extending circumferentially continuous,spaced lips 22 on proved oil seal for use in a railway car journal boxto retain lubricant within the journal box while at the same timeprohibiting the entry thereinto of foreign material such as dirt.

. The principal object of the present invention is the provision of animproved oil seal for mounting in the dust ciated with its journalsealing portion to make the latter effective with re-worked journals aswell as newjournals.

- Other objects not specifically set forth will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the oil seal of the present inventionmade in conjunction with the; accompanying d'rawingwherein:

' Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical section taken along line 1-1 of Fig.2 of a known type of journal box and associated-journal having theimproved oil seal-of the present invention mounted therein; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation in partial section of the journal box ofFig. 1 taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

A journal box 10 of known design is shown as including an end opening 11of oblong shape being provided with an outwardly directed flange portion12 which defines an inwardly opening dust-guard slot 13 of U-shape crosssection. The top horizontal segment of the dust-guard slot 13 isprovided with an upwardly directed opening as well for access thereinto.Through the opening 11 of the journal box 10 is inserted a journal 14 ofknown design of a diameter appreciably less than that of the opening 11to allow radial movement thereof within the opening. The journal box 10is further provided with a wedge plate 15 and a bearing plate 16 whichcooperate between the journal box 10 and the journal 14 in a knownmanner to retain the latter therein.

An oil seal 17 formed from resilient material such as high gradesynthetic rubber is illustrated as having a body portion 18 which is ofsubstantial mass and rectangular shape extending circumferentiallycontinuously within the dust-guard slotlS. The body portion 18substantially fills the dust-guard slot 13 and is provided with two sidewalls and an integral bottom of U-shaped outline, the side walls beingclosed at the top with a horizontally extending top portion. It isfurther internally supported by an imbedded metal plate 19 which, inturn, is provided with an upwardly extending exposed horizontal band 20having spaced holes 21 therein. The plate 19 is preferably of adequatewidth throughout to generally conform to the width of the body portion18 and in this respect provides the resilient material of the bodyportion 18 with a required amount of rigidity to allow 1 the seal 17 tobe easily installed and removed. The

opposite side walls thereof. The lips 22 are definedby intermediategrooves and extend into sealing engage? ment with the opposed innersurfaces of the side walls of the slot 13. i Extending radially inwardlyfrom the innersurface of the body portion 18 and integral therewith'isacou: necting web 23. This web is circumferentially continuous andsupports centrally thereof. an integraljournal sealing portion 24 whichis intended to be positionedin a direction radially outwardly of thejournal box 10 about the outer periphery of the j0urnal14 in sealingengagement therewith. As a result, the connecting web 23 is flexed atsubstantially right angles. to its axis thereby providing a sufiicientquantity of connecting web ma.- terial to allow for the radial movementof thejournal 14 with-in the opening 11. The connecting web 23 isrelatively thin and highly flexible and allows thejour- .nal 14 to movewithout restriction in any direction in its usual manner while at thesame time enabling the journal sealing portion 24 to remain in effectivesealing engagement with the outer periphery of the journal 14 therebykeeping the oil in thejournal boxf10 and eliminating the introduction ofdust,. dirt and water thereinto.

The journal sealing portion 24 is provided with circumferentiallycontinuous, inwardly directed, spaced sealing lips; 25 which engage theouter periphery of the journal 14. The top surface of the sealingportion 24vis provided with an inwardly directed, circumferentiallycontinuous groove 26 for receiving a clamp ring 27-. This ring isprovided with spaced ends defined .by upwardly extending lugs 28 whichreceive therethrough a clamp screw 29 threaded at one end thereof intoashake-proof nut 30. Intermediate the lugs 28 is positioned a sleevespacer 31 preferably of a non-corrosive nature such as fiber ornon-ferrous material, which spacer limits the tightening of the clampring 27 about the sealing portion 24 thereby limiting the sealingpressure applied against the outer periphery of the journal 14.

The use of the clamp ring 27 allows the sealing pressure maintainedbetween the lips 25 and the journal 14 to be regulated to any desiredextent and upon proper regulation insures uniform contact between thelips 25 and that portion of the journal 14 in sealing engagementtherewith. Continued maintenance of desired sealing engagement pressureis assured by providing the clamp screw 29 with the shake-proof nut 30.The provision of the spacer 31 prohibits the clamp ring 27 from beingtightened to an extent that the sealing portion 24 becomes frozen on thejournal 14.

The clamp ring 27 has an additional important function. During thecourse of continued operation of railway cars it is often necessary tore-work the journals which results in a slight reduction in theiroutside diameters. The seal 17 is capable ofuse not only with newjournals but also with re-worked journals as the clamp ring 27 may betightened to an extent that the lips 25 will be brought into propersealing engagement with a re-worked surface of a journal. Under suchcircumstances it is merely necessary to utilize a spacer 31 of reducedlength to allow the lugs 28 to be brought together by the clamp screw 29and nut 30 to an extent that proper sealing engagement between the lips25 and the re-worked journal 14 is accomplished. For this kept on hand.It has been found preferable to insulate 3 the outer surface of theclamp ring 27 as well as the clamp screw 29 and the nut 30 in anysuitable manner, such as with a phosphate coating, to prevent anypossibility of sparking should the ring 27 or its associated parts comeinto moving contact with steel parts.

From the foregoing it can be readily seen that the railway journal boxoil seal of the present invention exhibits many desirable features. Forexample, the positioning of the sealing portion 24 radially outwardly ofthe opening 11 makes the seal highly accessible for adjustment. Duringthe use of the seal 17, the effectiveness of the sealing portion 24 maybe continuously regulated by appropriate adjustment of the clamp ring 27and such may be accomplished without requiring the disassembling of anyportion of the total unit. To remove the journal 14 from the journal boxas far as the seal 17 is concerned, it is necessary merely to loosen theclamp ring 27 which may be easily done due to the accessibility of theclamp screw 29.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention ashereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit andscope thereof, and therefore only such limitations should be imposed asare indicated in the appended claim.

I claim:

In' a journal box having a journal extending thereinto through anopening in an end thereof, said opening surrounded by an inwardlyopening dust-guard slot extending radially outwardly with respectthereto and closed along the sides and bottom thereof while beingprovided along the top thereof with an upwardly directed opening, theprovision of an oil seal formed from resilient material having acircumferentially continuous body portion mounted within said slot, saidbody portion having continuous lips on either side thereof in sealingengagement with the opposed inner surfaces of the side walls of saidslot, an embedded rigidifying support in said body portion having a sealremoval engaging portion extending upwardly therefrom into the upwardlydirected opening of said slot, a journal sealing portion positionedcentrally of said body portion and axially offset relative thereto whilebeing provided with a continuous lip on the inner surface thereof insealing engagement with the outer periphery of said journal, a ringclamp carried by the outer surface of said journal sealing portion toadjust the sealing engagement between said portion and said journal,said clamp including an interrupted ring member having spaced endsdefined by radially outwardly directed lugs receiving therethrough aclamp screw fastener, said fastener including adjustment means forloosening and tightening said ring member, a tightening limiting sleevereceived about said fastener intermediate said lugs and arranged forabutment therewith upon tightening of said ring member to limit furthertightening thereof, a groove in the outer surface of said sealingportion to receive and retain said ring clamp in contact therewith, anda circumferentially continuous connecting web integral with said bodyportion and said sealing portion to allow relative movementtherebetween, said connecting web including a radially extending portiondirectly integral with said body portion and an axially extendingportion intermediate said radially extending portion and said sealingportion, the axially extending portion of said connecting web being ofsufficient axial length to position said sealing portion in axiallyoffset relation to said body portion and hold the same in outwardlyprojecting relation relative to said opening to locate said ring clampin readily accessible relation outwardly of said journal box.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS261,504 Wheeler July 18, 1882 1,497,125 Sorrells June 10, 1924 1,995,813Olson Mar. 26, 1935 2,116,000 Peterson May 3, 1938 2,668,067 FitzsimmonsFeb. 2, 1954 2,692,783 Foss Oct. 26, 1954 2,714,046 Barber July 26, 19552,720,431 Browne et a1. Oct. 11, 1955 2,781,208 Foss Feb. 12, 1957FOREIGN PATENTS 158,438 Germany Feb. 10, 1905

